Drought may be taking its toll on Yolo County bats

An increase in the number of dead and injured bats in Yolo County may be related to the drought.

Corky Quirk, known locally as the "bat lady," said that in the past two weeks she has found a total of 10 dead or injured bats, a high number for this time of year. Typically, she receives more calls like this in the summer, but never this many in April.

Quirk is the founder of Northern California Bats, an organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of various bat species throughout Northern California.

"We take calls when people find bats that are sick or injured," she said. "We try to help the animals. We try to help them get back out in the wild."

These bats are being found dehydrated and weak, and once Quirk rehabilitates them, she releases them back into the wild. In her nine years of working with the flying mammals, Quirk has never seen such a spike in deaths this time of year, and her explanation is the drought.

Rachel Long, a farm adviser at the UC Cooperative Extension, agrees that the drought plays a significant role in the developing pattern of dead and injured bats in Yolo County.

"It's a definitely a big concern," she said. "The drought has had an impact on their food resources."

The specific type of bat being affected is the Mexican Free-Tailed bat, a migratory species found from Central North America to Northern South America. These bats feed on insects like moths, flying ants, weevils and ground beetles.

According to Quirk, "migration is tough," and these bats both drink and eat while flying to maintain their strength. Since there is less water available on the migration route, bats become weaker during the lengthy journey, and have been dying as a result.

These bats also follow the flight patterns of the insects they consume, and due to the lack of water, these insects are less abundant resulting in the malnutrition of the bats.

Long has worked as a farm adviser for more than 22 years, often working with bats herself. She said that in all that time she has never seen such a spike in deaths among the bat population. With no rain in the forecast for the next two weeks, and drought conditions continuing throughout California, these fatalities will most likely continue.

Vicky Fletcher with Yolo County Animal Control said that there is always a certain number of dead or injured bats found during the migration period, but she has noticed an increase as well.

Fletcher's role has to do with protecting people and pets from rabies, which can be contracted from the bats.

"We do encounter positive cases of rabies from bats," she said. More recently, a bat was found in a driveway in West Sacramento, and another at a home in Davis. The bat in Davis came into contact with two dogs, who were both vaccinated, but the bat was tested just to be sure.

In order to test for rabies, the bats are euthanized and their bodies are sent to a lab for evaluation.

According to Fletcher, for people who interact with bats or other animals known to carry the virus, there is a 10-day window to receive treatment. After that, treatment options narrow for disease. Vaccinating dogs and other pets is one way to prevent the spread of rabies, a method that Fletcher recommends.